What makes a “good” Connectivity solution? And how do I choose one?

If you’ve ever searched for a booking system or reservation software, you’ve likely come across many different names: ResTech, ticketing software, booking engine, reservation tech, and so on. These are all variations of what we refer to as a Connectivity solution, cloud-based web services that power the digital side of your tour, activity, or attraction business.

But what exactly do these systems do?

At a minimum, a good Connectivity solution will:

• Build you a website to accept direct bookings
• Allow you to accept online payments for bookings
• Help manage your schedule, pricing, and product details
• Sync bookings from OTAs like GetYourGuide into one calendar
• Streamline how you manage inventory and avoid overbookings
• Provide some basic analytics to allow you to make data-driven decisions for your business
• Charge a monthly fee and/or commission for the value they provide
  
  

In reality, most systems do a lot more. They can provide tools for customer communication, upselling, dynamic pricing, check-in hardware, reporting dashboards, integrations with your accounting software or CRM—you name it.

So how do you choose the right one? And do you even need a Connectivity solution in the first place?

Let’s zoom out for a second and understand where the industry is headed.

A Lesson from Restaurants: The Rise of Cloud-Based POS

Roughly 15–20 years ago, the restaurant industry saw a massive shift from local, on-premise point-of-sale (POS) systems to cloud-based POS platforms like Toast, Square, and Lightspeed. Initially, adoption was slow. Many restaurants hesitated to trust an internet-based solution to manage sales and operations.

Fast forward to today: Over 60% of POS purchases in the restaurant industry are cloud-based. Even small, single-location restaurants rely on these systems to manage everything from inventory to online orders. Why? Because cloud systems are more flexible, more integrated, and far more efficient.

That same transformation is happening in the tours and activities space, albeit at a slower pace.

Benefits of using a booking system / Connectivity solution

Let’s be honest—running a tour or activity business is complex. You’re managing schedules, taking bookings from multiple channels, taking payments, fielding questions, avoiding double-bookings, adjusting prices, analyzing data, and working across multiple sales channels. Oh, and you’re also trying to provide customers with top-notch service and experience.

A strong booking solution turns that chaos into clarity. Here's how:

• Seamless Bookings: Customers expect a frictionless, transparent booking experience—think one-click checkout, instant confirmation, and mobile-ready design.
• Customer Expectations: In 2025, younger travelers want to book online. They won’t call a box office or wait in line. A Connectivity solution meets them where they are.
• Reduced Risk of Errors: Software keeps your calendar aligned across channels, avoiding overbookings and mistakes that cost time and money.
• Easier Payments: Accepting credit cards, digital wallets, and even buy-now-pay-later is now a basic expectation. Plus, your Connectivity provider may offer better processing fee rates than going direct.
• Better Business Insights: Clean, visual reporting helps you make smarter decisions—what's selling, when, and why. Better yet if the Connectivity solution just tells you the data points that matter and the actions you should take to grow and succeed.
• OTA Integration: Connectivity solutions let you expand your reach through OTAs and other channels, with bookings syncing directly into your system; no manual entry required.
• Channel Management Capabilities: Often, Connectivity solutions allow you to sell on multiple channels (sometimes hundreds) that you would otherwise not be able to access and/or manage at scale.

How to Choose the Right One

There’s no one-size-fits-all solution. So instead of asking, “What’s the best Connectivity solution?”, ask this:

What does my business need?

Here are key factors to consider when evaluating a solution:

1. Ease of Use and Onboarding

• How long will it take to switch or set up?
• Does the provider help with onboarding?
• Is it intuitive enough for your team to learn quickly?
  
  

2. Product Type

• Do you need hardware (kiosks, scanners, turnstiles)?
• Do you offer digital-only products like walking tours, or physical tickets at a venue?
  
  

3. Category Specialization

• Some systems are built for specific use cases: boat tours, rentals, museums, escape rooms, etc.
• Do you need features tailored to your category, or is a general solution enough?
  
  

4. Features & Support

• Does it support complex pricing (seasonality, dynamic pricing)?
• Can you offer last-minute deals?
• Are reporting and analytics robust?
• Does it integrate with your existing tools (Google Calendar, QuickBooks, CRM)?
• What’s their customer service like (e.g. phone call, SMS, WhatsApp, chat, etc) and is it available when you need it?
• Is the Connectivity partner open to implementing features requested by suppliers / are they responsive to suppliers’ needs and requests?
• Which features have been adopted that meet your current business & future business?
• How frequently / often are the systems adopting new features from OTAs?

5. Financial Considerations

• Monthly fees vs. commission-based pricing?
• Is there a setup or installation fee?
• What’s included in their transaction fee (e.g. is credit card processing separate)?
• Is there a fee cap for high-ticket items?
• Are you locked into a long-term contract?
• Are there API-related booking fees?

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6. Reliability

• You want a reliable Connectivity solution. This means the solution makes very few errors, has almost no down-time, and transfers information as fast as possible.
• Is the Connectivity solution a Premium or Advanced partner with GetYourGuide (check here)? If they are, then they have best-in-class reliability.

These are all relevant questions to ask yourself (and your prospective Connectivity solutions) when choosing a Connectivity solution.

Final Thought

Your Connectivity solution isn’t just a back-end tool—it’s as essential as your guide staff, your vehicles, or your venue. Just like a restaurant wouldn’t dream of running without a cloud-based POS system in 2025, a tour operator shouldn’t be managing their business without a modern Connectivity solution.

Choosing the right one means understanding what matters most to your operation. It also means recognizing that being connected is no longer optional—it’s foundational.

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Stay tuned for our next post. We’re here to help you thrive in a connected world.

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